One or more proposed locations for a homeless “day center” should be
known by mid-June.
The city expects to issue a request for proposals (RFP) May 1 on the facility,
according to Aimee Cox, a Mayor's Office administrator whose title is
senior economic vitality specialist.
Mid-June is calculated based on what Cox said would be a six-week RFP
time frame.
The city announced in January that it will fund the center because people
without permanent residences currently have no place to go during the day.
The RFP should also narrow down currently undetermined details about
the building's size and design. As part of the process, the city is seeking
suggestions from area entities that provide services to the homeless, Cox
said in an interview last week.
A document that the city presented in January listed several
services/amenities that the day center will have: showers and laundry
facilities, case management and family connections, physical evaluations
and treatment, job assistance and life skills services, community voice mail
and lockers and storage bins.
At a Westside community meeting on crime issues March 19, Police Sgt.
Michael Spitzmiller briefly discussed day centers. In Pueblo, for example,
the number of people using its day center has gone up noticeably in the
past year, he told meeting attendees. But without such a formalized facility
in Colorado Springs “it's the library downtown.” Responding to concerns
about the impacts a center might have on the areas around it, Spitzmiller replied,
“I don't think it's a bad thing, depending on how it's run." He assured people at the
meeting that the day center being planned for the Springs "is not going to be a
flophouse where people hang out and play video games all day."
According to the city's January announcement, the day center's funding will be
drawn from current federal and local money earmarked for offsetting
homelessness. Other grants will also be sought.
There will be a public input process before day center plans are finalized,
Cox also said at that time.